An English professor in Colorado was arrested on Tuesday on suspicion of murder after police found his wife bleeding and injured and his infant daughter dead at their home, Denver police announced.
Authorities said Regis University professor Nicholas Myklebust, 44, called first responders on Monday to report that he had found his wife on the floor inside their home and that their infant daughter was not breathing, according to an affidavit obtained by HuffPost.
The Denver Post reported Tuesday that Myklebust told police he had woken up from a nap to find his wife, 44-year-old Seorin Kim, on the ground bleeding, and that he believed she must have fallen from a stepladder in the bedroom.
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Officers who arrived at the scene did not see evidence of that; Kim had multiple blunt-force injuries to her head and face not consistent with a fall, the Post reported, though the medical examiner has not released her official cause of death. Their daughter was found in a bedroom without visible injuries and pronounced dead at the scene.
Detectives observed bruising and blood on Myklebust’s knuckles, along with scratch marks on his neck and chest, according to the affidavit. Myklebust told police that the bruising was skin discoloration, and that his wife sometimes scratched his body because of his psoriasis, according to the Post.
Denver Deputy District Attorney Anthony Santos told a judge at Myklebust’s bond hearing that police also found bloody gloves “in the dryer and on the dryer,” according to the Denver Gazette.
The child that died Monday was the second to die in Myklebust’s custody, according to the Gazette, citing prosecutors at his bond hearing. Myklebust’s first child died in 2021 after suffering skull fractures, but no charges were filed at the time.
An attorney for Myklebust didn’t immediately respond to HuffPost’s request for comment on Wednesday.
Regis University shared a statement with HuffPost on Wednesday, saying news of Myklebust’s arrest was “profoundly distressing for our entire community.”
“Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone affected by this situation, especially the victims’ family, and all members of our community who are grappling with this difficult news,” university officials said in the statement.
